Os caminhos para a paz em Moçambique: precariedades de uma negociação sem fim

Abstract

In Africa, reflections on reconciliation or peacebuilding processes in the post-conflict era have gained visibility in many studies and reports. However, in the case of Mozambique, these analyses, although not very recent, are still not very systematized, partly since the existing literature tends to address more exhaustively the process to reach agreements between the parties in conflict, rather than the broader challenges of implementing these agreements in the long term and the involvement of tertiary (multiple) actors in the process. Several times, the discussion on peace in Mozambique is circumscribed to the restricted circle of two key actors: Frente de libertação de Moçambique (Frelimo) and Resistência Nacional Moçambicana (Renamo), two belligerent parties. Even if it can be admitted that it is not possible to talk about peacebuilding without mentioning those actors, it seems equally clear to us that there is a need to open an opportunity for analysis to the other actors. Although they did not interfere directly as belligerents, they at least mark contemporary national politics, as is the case of the Movimento Democratico de Moçambique (MDM), an actor who has been left out of peace processes. It seems fruitful to include the multiplicity of actors outside the Frelimo-Renamo binomial in order to understand the contours of peace in Mozambique. This work has taken into consideration actors who have no direct connection to, or interest in, the outcomes of the various peace negotiations that have so far been agreed in Mozambique. These actors did have some influence on the different peace processes in the country. This work stresses that peace in Mozambique will not be possible if it is centred on bipartism between Frelimo and Renamo. The study suggests that true peace-building is not only about national reconciliation, but that it must also go beyond the exclusively electoralist vision of peace-building to enable elections, as has been recurrently the case.